<p>The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is one of the most important assumptions applied in astronomical studies. The stellar populations in the local universe appear to have a universal and invariant IMF which has been adopted as the standard canonical IMF since 1955. However, observations in recent decays suggest that the IMF, in fact, varies in more extreme environments. In this talk, I wil...</p>
<p>Massive stars are crucial in our understanding of many areas of modern astrophysics. Despite considerable efforts, there remain numerous unanswered questions regarding the formation and evolution of massive stars. Young star clusters are ideal laboratories to gauge stellar theory, because they are believed to be ensembles of co-eval stars with identical initial chemical compositions. However, r...</p>
<p>As the expansion of the universe continues to accelerate, the internal secular evolution of galaxies becomes more important as the distance between galaxies generally increases. The largest galaxies in the local group provide an ideal laboratory due to their proximity to study the secular evolution processes driven by internal dynamical structures, such as a bar and spiral arms. I will review t...</p>
<p>As the expansion of the universe continues to accelerate, the internal secular evolution of galaxies becomes more important as the distance between galaxies generally increases. The largest galaxies in the local group provide an ideal laboratory due to their proximity to study the secular evolution processes driven by internal dynamical structures, such as a bar and spiral arms. I will review t...</p>
<p>The intracluster medium (ICM) is the largest reservoir of the hot baryons. The centers of the ICM often feature a sharp X-ray surface brightness peak. AGN mechanical feedback from the brightest cluster galaxy is likely preventing the hot ICM from the catastrophic cooling, although the exact feedback process remains poorly understood. A growing number of kiloparsec-scale multiphase filaments hav...</p>
<p>With the rapidly increasing number of newly discovered exoplanets, the characterization of their atmospheres is becoming the new frontier, crucial for distinguishing between different planetary populations and bearing the imprints of planet formation and evolution. To this end, transit spectroscopy has been the most fruitful technique, revealing the atmospheric species for dozens of exoplanets,...</p>
<p>Despite the diversity in the histories of individual galaxies, most of them live slow and die fast. I will firstly introduce a systematic exploration of the galaxy-halo connection, aiming to search for deviations in the spatial distribution of galaxies from the simplest halo model prediction. The null detection paves the way for us to identify the key driver of galaxy quenching within the same...</p>
<p>I will first present an overview of the problem of galaxy formation. I will then turn my attention to some important and robust physical mechanisms that regulate the supply of cold gas to galaxies. I will in the end try to convey the message that the field of galaxy formation simulation would benefit by turning to more physics, rather than parameter, based approach, through exploring additional...</p>
<p>It has been suggested that the occurrence rate of hot Jupiters (HJs) in some open clusters might reach several per cent, significantly higher than that of the field. Several models have been proposed to solve this problem but none has been satisfactory. In a binary-rich cluster, the von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZKL) mechanism may cause the observed high occurrence rate. For planets formed around a s...</p>
<p>The evolution of galaxies is closely connected to the gas environment in which galaxies reside. Traditionally, this tenuous gas that cycles in and out of galaxies has been studied primarily in absorption using quasar spectroscopy. The deployment of large integral field spectrographs at 8 meter telescopes, and in particular MUSE at VLT, has transformed our view of the interplay between the ambie...</p>